by Calculated Risk on 1/27/2020 03:12:00 PM

As part of the new home sales report released today, the Census Bureau reported the number of homes sold by price and the average and median prices.

From the Census Bureau: "The median sales price of new houses sold in December 2019 was $331,400. The average sales price was $384,500."

The following graph shows the median and average new home prices.

Click on graph for larger image.

During the housing bust, the builders had to build smaller and less expensive homes to compete with all the distressed sales.  When housing started to recovery - with limited finished lots in recovering areas - builders moved to higher price points to maximize profits.

Now it appears the home builders are offering some less expensive (and probably smaller) homes.

The average price in December 2019 was $384,500, and the median price was $311,400.

The second graph shows the percent of new homes sold by price.

Very few new homes sold were under $150K in December 2019.  This is down from 30% in 2002.  In general, the under $150K bracket is going away.   

The $400K+ bracket increased significantly since the housing recovery started, but has been holding steady recently.  Still, a majority of new homes (about 57%) in the U.S., are in the $200K to $400K range.